worst deer season ever!

[jsweka]

Very poor season for me too.  The only shot opportunity I had was on a fawn and I just couldn't bring myself to shoot one that was so small it still had the remnants of spots.

[lpcjon2]

I feel you also. I had not gotten out due to work, and the last half of the season due to a back injury. I hope I can make up for it next year.

[GingivitisKahn]

Pretty rough around here as well.  My deer sightings are way down and this is the first season I can remember where I haven't even come across another hunter's gutpile.

Weird but that's why it's hunting rather than shopping.

[anchorman]

In away glad to hear I wasn't the only one having a bad year. In Kansas at least for me and a bunch that I know we all had a difficult time seeing or getting a deer. At one point went 14 sits without seeing a deer of any kind. Maybe next year will be better. Never had a year like this before...

[Night Wing]

The high heat temperatures and year long drought made for a very bad bowhunting season where I hunt in Texas.

[Migra Bill]

5 this year. I had 11 last year and 14 the year before that but I spent much less time in the woods this year.
Maryland is really overrun with deer. We are allowed unlimited does in the suburban archery zone.

[Covey]

I didn't get to hunt as much as I would have liked. I think I got out five or six times and only seen three deer. One good buck, one scrubby buck and a doe. Probably the worst season I've had. At least we got to spend some time in the woods. Better luck next year!

Jason

[Dave Lay]

Same here Mike, our game and fish say we have more deer than ever, i think thats way wrong, first year in a long time i spent multiple days without seeing anything at all. The texas guys have stated the heat and drought, we had the same, it hit 116 here a couple days with a very long drought and days over 100, but ya think yad find a carcass now and then, i havent. as far as being nocturnal, i am not seeing the tracks and general sign this year either. dunno its like they vanished

[Paul/KS]

Saw very few this year where I hunt and no chance for a shot.
From talking to other guys in my area they didn't see much either. Not seeing any along the roads either...

[Mike Bolin]

Makes me feel a bit better....at least it's not just me. Tough season in a lot of places it seems. Mike

[jrstegner]

I had a poor season as well. I saw 120 does 59 bucks, only 4 were over my 140" minimum. That may not sound too bad but I had 326 hours in stand. Since 2002 I have averaged seeing at least a deer per hour every year with the exception of 2005. Which was very similiar to this year weather wise. For the first time in 46 years my Dad didn't see a buck during gun season and I am sure he had well over 100 hours in stand.

[Mike Bolin]

It seems some of the Indiana hunters on up north had a good season, at least from what I've read. Feelin' a bit better today so I went out to try and scare up a turkey. Wind was howling so I headed to a sheltered area with an open flat..........nothin'! Shot a couple of stumps and came back to the house. Cold, windy but still a good time. Mike

[hardin barbed]

Mike
Its not just Indiana I live about an hour south of you .Its cold and windy here also but the last two years down here have been the worst I've seen in 25 yrs.DNR tries to say number of kills are the same or better but I think they say that to keep the sell of tags up not near the gun shots in any gun season we have.That tells me no one is seeing the deer.

[b.glass]

How late does the fall turkey season run?

~Bona

[Mike Bolin]

Kevin-I hear ya on the gun season! We can bowhunt though the gun season, which is too long. I always count the number of gunshots I hear on opening morning. Several hundred acres of woods/farm ground around me and I usually hear at least 100-125 shots by noon. 4 years ago I counted 211 shots by noon! This year I counted only 37 shots on opening day, both morning and afternoon and only 23 on the second day! I am anxious to hear what the DNR comes up with for our total kill this year.

Bona, turkey goes out on 1/7/12. Good luck! Mike

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Mike, it ain't just you here in IN!  I live in Putnam county and we are locally probably at 30-40% of the deer population we had in '07.  The EHD hit in '08 and hit us pretty hard right here, but the (virtually) unlimited antlerless tags are way worse (we are an 8 bonus county now).  They have hammered the crap out of the deer in the gun season in '08, '09, and 10 around me - and I really saw the effect this year.  I goofed up and shot a 2 1/2 yr old buck in late October, but held completely off on the does this year.  Behind my house I put out some food plots, and usually (last 8-9 years) have around a dozen antlerless deer and 6-8 bucks using regularly, this year there were 2 does and 3 fawns and a spike and 1 1/2 yr old 6 point.  The neighbor shot the 6 point on opening of shotgun season next door.

My big fear is that with the VERY HIGH kill on US40 this year due to detours for RT70 road construction all fall (6 deer hit near my house compared to the usual 1-2 roadkills) the DNR will hammer even harder because of the "high population".

I used to pass up 20+ bucks a season around here, now its more like 6.  I think the we are just reaping what the DNR has sown.

Ryan

[meathead]

I ended up seeing about the same deer numbers but very little in the way of bucks that had any size or age to them.  Did have some nice ones on trail camera though.  I did have two close encounters in November but they wouldn't cooperate.  I saw very little in December.  I am it was due to all the warm weather we had.  

I actually saw more deer the year that EHD hit and the year after than I have seen the last two years.  We have three guys that hunt the property directly south of our farm that really hammers the does.  Not near the amount of shooting this year.  Hopefully they are figuring it out but probably not.  They just started a  timber cut in there in the last couple weeks.  Hopefully they will be able to hide a little better.  We planted 25 acres of CRP this past spring too.  That should help with the hiding places.

[acollins]

Sounds like the norm for us Indiana hunters.  I did not see a single doe this entire season while hunting.  I only saw one buck. Very odd season. I still enjoyed being in the woods and spending time with my son in the stand.

[b.glass]

And I thought it was just me. I expect things to get worse with the changes coming next season.

[Joe Subler]

I'll be waiting for the DNR postings of deer taken this year in Ohio as well.  I haven't talked to a single hunter who has seen as many deer as in years past.  Last year was just as bad.

Joe